Wooly Crossbody Bag

I love bags, any kind of bags! And didn’t I promise to share a product of my sweater fulling (felting) experiment? Well, here it is! The Wooly Crossbody Bag.

Skill Level: Intermediate Time: 3-4 hours (plus sweater felting time)

This cross body bag is a simple pattern and comes together in a snap. My choice of fabric – made from a beautiful men’s cable knit merino wool sweater -feels so soft and celebrates the sweater-wearing season! I like these smaller bags when I head out shopping, wine tasting or taking in a movie. Young women especially love cross body bags to carry their smartphone, credit cards and lip gloss.

Tutorial: No sense in repeating, since Vicky Myers has a great tutorial, which can be found here.

Materials:
I made my bag with felted wool from a sweater (see Steps to Felting), the lining with pre-washed cotton print, and the strap with duck fabric.

2″ x 50″ fabric for the handle, lined with heavy weight interfacing (if you use heavy-weight cotton duck, as I suggest, it needs no interfacing.)

Tips & Tricks:

The pattern size is described in the tutorial as A4, which is a UK paper size. The pattern is 8.27″ x 11.69″ PLUS SEAM ALLOWANCES.

Using a walking foot on your machine works well when sewing a thick fabric, like wool.

When attaching the magnetic closure, be sure to secure it well. Place a piece of heavy non-fusible interfacing between the closure piece and the main body. When the closure is secured, place another fusible piece on top to hold it.

When sewing the zipper, use masking tape or medical paper tape to hold it in place. It makes for a smoother sewing surface, resulting in a straighter end-result. You will see here that I used pins, so mine is not as nice as I would have liked it. (Next time!)

Finally, when making the strap, use the blind hem foot on your machine, moving the needle to the left-hand position to produce a stitch close to the edge. It will give you a nice even stitch, especially if you guide it with your trusty index finger!

I may make one of these for every season, trying different fabrics and textures. I may even add a few felt flowers on the flap of the next one. I hope you try whatever strikes your fancy!